Two dollars worth of turnips....

annie1992

11 years ago

It was a hot and dry summer here. I grew turnips but they got so strong and bitter frm the heat that I fed them to the cows and shrugged it off.

That's why I was surprised that the "deer bait" sellers were doing so well. Here deer hunting is a big deal, kids get the first day of deer season off school, it's like it's a holiday. A month or so before deer season you see roadside stands selling apples and carrots and sugar beets, there are bags in front yards with hand painted signs everywhere. I didn't think there'd be much this year.

My cows and horses like the carrots and apples as treats, so although I don't bait the deer (they eat enough of my hay, thank you, without me BUYING food for the darned things) I do buy the bags of root vegetables for my own animals.

Right outside of town is the farm where the 4H has their greenhouse and I try to support them, so I stopped for carrots. They didn't have any carrots, but they had turnips, from a little town just down the road. $2.00 for a 50 pound bag. Also parsnips which were a bit more pricey, $3.00 for a 50 pound bag! I stopped at the local farm market for potatoes and found rutabaga for $4 a half bushel.

Well, you know I just had to:

The turnips, though, were pretty big, I put them in front of a Diet Coke can for reference:

Well, I sure wasn't going to use them as cattle fodder if they were perfectly good otherwise, so I peeled and cooked one of each. I don't know how they did it, but the turnips were sweet and tender, not strong at all. The rutabaga was even better than the turnip and the parsnips had clearly been treated to some cold weather because they were also sweet and good.

I promptly cut up a few of each and oven roasted them to go with a nice ribeye steak for supper:

I cubed and blanched a bunch of the turnips and put them in the freezer, the rutabaga will go there another night.

Dang, I love it when I get a good deal, but I forgot to buy potatotes...

Annie

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Comments (16)

sheilajoyce_gw
11 years ago
What a great deal. Reminds me of the stories of our foremothers saving the root vegetables in the root cellar to make it through the winter. You are a pioneer woman!
annie1992
Original Author
11 years ago
Sheila, I am definitely not a Pioneer Woman. Not a real pioneer woman and definitely not one living in a fancy house with every modern convenience known to man, LOL.

I'm just doing what farm families have always done and will probably always do. We grow as much as we can and then save as much as we can until the next year when we can grow as much as we can again! We just can't help ourselves, we gotta grow SOMETHING.

Whether it's corn or hay, beef or wine grapes, chicken or children, there's got to be something growing or a farmer is just not happy. (grin)

And then, to justify our growing, we have to try to keep it and store it and use it, so that we have a good reason to grow some more the next year.

Annie
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Jasdip
11 years ago
I always call rutabagas "turnips". When I talk about my turnip puff, it's using rutabagas. I've never had a real turnip.

Good haul Annie!!! I love roasted veggies, and parsnips roast up nice and sweet.
whgille
11 years ago
Annie, what a great bargain! and the food looks tasty!

Silvia
pkramer60
11 years ago
Parsnips for $3.00/50#? I am so jealous, I love them. Not sure what I would do with that much before they turned, but i would have fun trying. Here in Chicago, they are a $1/pound on a sale.

So, are you going to wax them or just keep in the garage in the cool?
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know when you will come across a great deal like this!

50 lbs of turnips!

You can make deep fried turnips, steamed turnips, coconut turnips, grilled turnips, roasted turnips, turnip A la King, sauteed turnips, stuffed turnips, turnip smoothies, stir fried turnips, turnip ice cream, turnip -----------------------------------------------

dcarch :-)
sally2_gw
11 years ago
That is a great deal!

I grow turnips, carrots, and beets in the winter here. I haven't actually started a garden this winter yet, as it doesn't even feel like winter much, but I do need to get out and work the soil so I can get some going. I don't know what I'd do with 50# of turnips. I love their greens the best.

Sally
coconut_nj
11 years ago
What a great find Annie!! I'd have done the same thing, and bought 50#'s of everything they had for sale. LOL. What lucky deer you guys have.
jadeite
11 years ago
What a great deal! I would have snapped up a LOT and DH would be fussing about where we would store them. We used to buy butternut squash by the bushel when we were in New England, and eat it through the winter.

You go girl!

Cheryl
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
"I always call rutabagas "turnips". When I talk about my turnip puff, it's using rutabagas. I've never had a real turnip."

Well don't get any, and I had no idea the recipe wasn't literal. These things can stink and taste like (insert expletive of choice) although they do make a nice addition to the compost pile.

Annie, I'm glad yours didn't taste like the ones I got. I'll never buy another one, no matter how food-bored we get. You did get an amazing deal though, the package of 2 (smaller ones) I got was more than half of what you paid for your whole stash.
bcskye
11 years ago
Wow, Annie! Wish I could fall into a deal like that, but it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Enjoy every single bite of all of them!
annie1992
Original Author
11 years ago
purpleinopp, there are turnips and then there are turnips. I grew some this year that were so strong and bitter that I couldn't eat them, I don't think the cows even liked them very much. My extension service tells me that the heat makes them bitter and "strong" (we had lots of days over 90 and several over 100, very unusual for Northern/Western Michigan). Well I guess it sure did!

Good turnips, though, are delicious, mild and sweet, I like to eat them raw.

LOL, dcarch.

Peppi, I have never waxed any of the root crops, that's why I put the turnips in the freezer already. Parsnips, I'm not so sure about. My garage is good right now, but it'll get below freezing by Christmas. My basement is too warm. The cellar at the farm is pretty good, but I've always just stored parsnips in the ground, covered with a layer of mulch and dug them as I wanted them. These, I just don't know about.

So, how do I wax them? Paraffin? Hey, I'd share!!!

Annie
Tracey_OH
11 years ago
Those look great! I don't think I've ever had a parsnip or a rutabaga and turnips maybe only once. I would definitely try them roasted. I guess I need to venture outside my comfort zone and try some new stuff lol.

Tracey
soonergrandmom
11 years ago
I think the first time I ate rutabaga was in the Michigan UP in a pastie. Haven't had one in years, but I liked them then.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
Thanks, Annie. Someone more experienced with them probably could have made these things I bought tasty. The heat thing makes sense if these were locally grown, definitely hot here. As soon as I cut into one, it stunk like dirty feet. Bitter doesn't even begin to describe the flavor after cooking.

I'll try to be open minded about trying again sometime, but definitely need some time to get past this bad experience. It WAS funny, though, DH was laughing as I was spitting it out, apologizing for putting it on his plate. He's not the type to usually say it but he said, "I told ya." It's becoming an ongoing joke, like "If you don't _____, I'm going to cook more turnips!"
lpinkmountain
11 years ago
Parsnips are a tough one Annie. (And by tough, I mean tough to find good ways to cook and eat). I like them roasted or steamed. I have a recipe for parsnip slaw. They are probably good as parsnip patties. I tried them in soup and didn't care for it. They are OK in borscht though, IMHO. Perhaps Mabeldingledine could get you the winning parsnip cupcakes recipe from that contest!

Two dollars worth of turnips....

Comments (16)

sheilajoyce_gw

annie1992
Original Author

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Two dollars worth of turnips....

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annie1992Original Author

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